Lumber Liquidators

Wrong Product, Bad Customer Service

We’re concerned that our grievance with Lumber Liquidators will get lost among the sea of complaints posted about this truly awful corporation, but if we can head off even one similar interaction it will have save someone grief, and cost LL money. We waited months for a response from them regarding the condition of our hardwood flooring, and the splitting and gaps that have developed since it was installed last year. We assumed that LL would at least compensate us for the flooring, not to mention the cost of installation, moving furniture, time lost from work, kenneling the dog, on and on. Nothing. Not so much as a token 10% off coupon. Not a cent of relief, or an apology for the horrid customer service or the months-long wait, only to find out that Lumber Liquidators were not going own up to their responsibility. Here is a simple response to the LL disposition that we received, you’ll get the idea…

LL: “it was discovered that the installer did not turn the raidant [radiant] heat on prior to the installation of the flooring”.
RESPONSE: The installer may or may not have turned it on – we didn’t specify either way. LL claimed that they were going to interview the installer, apparently they didn’t. Regardless, this point doesn’t get at the core issue – Lumber Liquidator’s advised and sold us the wrong product for the application (solid wood over radiant heat, with seasonal evaporative cooling).

LL: “moisture left in the slab will enter the flooring as soon as the heat is turned on.”
RESPONSE: Moisture was already in the wood from the summer moisture and evaporative cooling. The instability of the wood and the subsequent swelling and buckling from the summer moisture, prior to the heat being turned on the following autumn, was the first indication of the true problem – instability in the wood, and a poor application for this residence and region. Lumber Liquidators either doesn’t understand the true issue, or they’re trying to obfuscate the issue to avoid liability.

LL: “After review of the Durawood installation instructions which are included, there is no mention of floating a solid wood floor as an option.”
RESPONSE: See figure page 10 of the Durawood instructions (3/7/2011).

LL: “It appears in the photos that there is some sort of underlayment over the concrete but no mention of the 6ml poly sheeting that is required over concrete subfloors.”
RESPONSE: There is indeed a 6ml moisture barrier installed beneath the wood flooring. This was explained to Lumber Liquidators over the phone, twice, and is shown in the photo images that they requested.

LL: “Engineered wood flooring is the flooring of choice for radiant heat.”
RESPONSE: Exactly (nothing like having the defendant hand you the evidence). This is what Lumber Liquidators should have told us from day one.

Comments

My recent experience with Lumber liquidators has been enough to deter me from ever buying from them again. I can't even say the sales people are poorly trained, I don't think they are given any training in customer service at all. Thank god, I at least researched the product I wanted on the internet before stepping into their store. I had an idea of what I wanted before getting the sell from their employee on a higher priced item. I then had to wait outside in the hot sun for about 25 minutes for the employee to load the product into my car. Unfotunately, he then received a call from an irate customer who he proceeded to talk to for an additional 10 to 15 minutes while I waited, after he completed the call he proceeded to tell me why the customer had complained ( as if I would be interested) then he pulled out a form for me to sign before loading my purchase. The form states that LL is not responsible for any damage to your vehicle while loading it, the wonderful employee then asked me if I would like to load the product myself. I am a female who would rather not as I think the store should have a higher standard of service than that. Yesterday, I returned to the store to purchase trim, once again I had to wait and wait and wait even though there were only 2 other people in the store. The employee had to keep stopping what he was doing in order to assist the other employee with the computer. I finally told him " I'll be back later" as I was not going to wait any longer. I plan on never stepping in the store again.

They NEVER honor there warranty even if you have them install the flooring.If you make a complaint and someone is sent out to inspect your floor -most of the time they will blame it on humidity, so be sure to have a humidity test done before they
come out!

Lumber Liquidators is a total ripoff and while they say they have a 100 year warranty on their Bellawood flooring, it means nothing. I purchased flooring for my entire home and was told by the local store that the Brazilian Koa is one of the harddest woods and should not dent or scratch, which is a down right falsehood. After putting part of the floor down with my contractor, we saw scratches dents, and marks over the first couple of days. We ended up taking the floor out at a cost of $4000 and scraped the product. Their response was that the contractor was at fault. I observed them puting this down and I know that they followed all LL instructions and took extra care puttting the flooring down. As shown by many other people, they do not care and only state it is your fault. We need to jointly relate to others that this company is not reputable and does no honor their product. Will contact better business bureau and other agencies to make certain they know that this is a company that should not continue to exist.